hello, everyone, i'm ashleigh banfield. it's 11:00 on the east coast, 8:00 on the west coast. so many people, so little power, and so many obstacles. things that used to be so simple. boarding a bus, for instance. hours after this scene in new york city last night, a shoving match borne of frustration and sheer fatigue. i can tell you more than half of the city's subway lines are now back in business post superstorm sandy. and don't strain your eyes on this map, but please try to note the dimmed outlines in lower manhattan on the left-hand side of your screen. those are the lines that are no-go, because of flooding or lack of power or both. and that's a big part of the city. still, a silver lining. bus and subway and commuter

train rides are free today. free tomorrow. under new york's transportation emergency decree. travel by car, however, is pretty much a nightmare. and even if you can travel, take a look at these things. cars lined up for gas. filling stations need power too, and in new jersey where these scenes were shot, almost 2 million homes and businesses do not have power. so you're looking at a line that will lead eventually to a bp station in middletown, new jersey. look how long they waited. and do you want to fly? that was the scene on tuesday, and guess what? now all three of the greater new york airports will be open today, including this airport, which looked like long island sound. it's laguardia. as recently as tuesday, tarmacs under water. really a remarkable scene, but open business today. speaking of water, take a picture of my town.

this is just next to my town. this is connecticut, where boats were just tossed up into yards, like they were toys. the flooding still evident there. that's really a boater's town, too. so you can see the strength of that storm, even in the community that weren't as hard hit as the ones you've been seeing every day. and it goes without saying, in a disaster like this, there are problems, there are losses. and then there are real losses that can never be recovered. we now know that the mega storm known as sandy took at least 68 lives in the united states. and that that number is surely to rise, maybe for days to come. it will be updated. we know this, because there are people who are still unaccounted for, among them two little boys ages 2 and 4 years old, apparently swept right out of their mothers owe arms on staten island. the storm was so strong and the damage so severe, not surprising

to hear that happened. those are just the stories you'll continue to hear. and if you absolutely, positively need to get to manhattan today, misery loves company. new york's mayor demands misery loves company. at least three people need to be in every car that gets on the island of manhattan or you don't get on to the island of manhattan. cnn's rob marciano has a staked-out spot to bring us up to speed on what's happening. how does it look from your perspective? we have seen the gridlock. is it getting any better, rob? >> reporter: i can tell you this, the number of cars coming over the brooklyn bridge today, it's flowing smoothly. definitely less than yesterday. so that problem-solving of shoving more people in cars are forcing that issue, may very well be working. as you mentioned, the subway south of 34th still shut down, including the green line and orange line here at city hall. and brooklyn bridge.

speaking of the brooklyn bridge, how do you get over here? if you can't get on one of those buses -- they're free, fine, or you can't get in a car with other people or your car doesn't have gas, you do it by foot. a lot of foot traffic coming over to and from brooklyn on the bridge. and here's what people had to say about their commute this morning. >> today everybody is trying to get in, and get back to the normal things. >> reporter: do you normally walk over the bridge to go to work? >> no, i don't. but this morning i thought that was my best bet. >> normally the r-train door to door 35 minutes. i'm expecting a two-hour walk but it's a beautiful day. i'm worried about getting home. a long day of work. hopefully trains and buses start working. we'll do it. >> started off walking the bridge. i hope to find a bus on the other side. and then the subway at midtown. that's the plan. i don't know how long it will take, but that's the plan. >> reporter: that consumer

confidence number, the highest since february of 2008. americans, despite economic numbers that are mixed -- >> people are okay now, but three or four days from now, if that is still a situation, may change. couple things i want to show you, the municipal building here, the hub of all new york city activity. that's without power. beyond that, the courthouses. so those court dates have been postponed. i know you're not in trouble with the law, but if you were, you would be free by monday. subway shut down until further notice. water in the tunnel. speaking of the tunnels, goes to and from either jersey or the other areas here. shut down, except for one. carpooling, you have a car -- or gas, the compound, ashleigh, as we go through. >> some people reporting four hours to go to work coming from the outer boroughs, what would normally take 35 minutes. give me an update on the power

story. this is just so horrible for everyone affected on the eastern seaboard and manhattan, this is a city that requires power. it's still a problem. >> reporter: it does. and i know that people who live in the hurricane zones found this out, people who live in severe weather country, their power knocked out for days, it's different. because you have high-rises and mid rises, people living 15, 20, 30 stories up and without power, you've got to go up and down those stairs. and if you're at all unhealthy or immobile or elderly, that is no easy task. and by now, day three, you have run out of water, run out of food. you need to go up and down those stairs. that's the kind of problem we're dealing with here and it's going to be an issue. not only that, temperatures will get colder over the weekend, drop to near freezing. and without power that, for some people will be cold enough to be a matter of survival, as well. >> already felt it in my house overnight. no power. and i think it was somewhere around 42 degrees when i got off to work this morning.

rob marciano, thank you very much for that live in new york city for us. as we have been telling you and showing you, the devastation up and down the new jersey shore is just really unbelievable. even the pictures can't tell you the full story. residents now gradually beginning that massive job of cleaning up. how you begin? no one knows. but they have to rebuild their lives. state workers back on the job. many schools, believe it or not, are going to open today. many will not, as well. but buses are back on the streets. some ferries are running to new york. train service, however, does remain suspended. for a lot of people who lost just about everything, their time is now spent standing in long lines, for gas, for stores, for food, maybe a restaurant if they can find one open. in the small town of belmar, the landmark boardwalk, ripped apart by the storm, pieces scattered. the mayor put it this way. it's no longer there. jim clancy is live in belmar

now. he joins me. give me an update on the conditions there, jim. >> reporter: well, i think i can say the sun has come out, and i want to show you something. even since we arrived at 5:00 this morning, the water has receded, gone down six inches, gone back several people. people have come by to take photos. people in this neighborhood can't wait to see it. talked to a member of the fire department who said it's happening. it's very slow. but we're making some progress here. they're pumping out st. rose's high school gym next to me here. crews moved in, put in some pumps, pushing water out. other businesses, the hum of generators has taken over. you see skip loaders and front loaders heading down the streets in all directions. the fire chiefs, people have been out here, going door to door telling residents we're going to pump out your basements, we're going to get to all of these things. the residents, of course, can't wait. they're still shaking their heads in disbelief.

headline in the local newspaper, here, ashleigh, today, was wiped away. back to you. >> i went to the boardwalk, and i've seen the roller coaster in the water, i've seen the boardwalk destroyed. and down by cvs on route 35, a big house in the middle of the street. and it was the most devastating thing i've ever seen. parts of the boardwalk were indented in the hotel. the boardwalk pieces that you literally walk on were in the streets. i literally walked over them with posts that hold up the back and forthwalk. it was out of this world. i've never seen anything like that in my life. and i'm glad i survived it. because i was really worried after i made the decision to stay that i made a mistake. >> all right. he was in the neighboring community of seaside heights that was so devastated where they had their entire boardwalk washed away. governor chris christie referring to that just a day

ago, talking about how some of these landmarks, the ferris wheel, you know, the roller coaster, were now in the atlantic ocean. real devastation here, but people getting bark back to work, ashleigh? >> i appreciate the update. jim clancy live from belmar. and if you want more information about hurricane superstorm sandy and what you can do to help people affected, just go to cnn.com/impact. a lot of information there. you can find out how to give or volunteer. cnn.com/impact. president obama: there's just no quit in america...

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at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. you may know someone impacted by this week's monster storm, a family member or neighbors. the impact on the ground is nothing short of astounding, but sandy also impacted those at sea. look at those pictures. in fact, dozens of cruise ships were forced to seek safe harbor, at least tend to safer waters, anyway. but those waters were hardly calm. a personal story for you. my mother and my stepfather were headed down the east coast of the united states on a cruise. in fact, they were taking the same route as the ill-fated hms bounty. that ship sank and killed a crew

member and likely killed a captain who is still missing. but instead of taking that route, the captain of my mom's ship, decided to take the 400 other passengers and 330 crew members farther out to sea to try to skirt the storm. so for five days they have been enduring 25 to 30-foot seas -- in fact, 35-foot seas. and i should tell you, many of the passengers on board that ship were elderly. the ship is 650 feet long, 84 feet wide. but even with specs like that, that thing was tossed about relentlessly. i couldn't be on the phone with my mom at any time. we had sporadic e-mails. we knew she was okay day to day, but i just got the call from my mom. she's back on dry land. and i think you're joining me by phone. are you there, mom? >> hi, yes i am. i'm back on dry land and very happy to be so. >> great. can you tell me how the rest of the passengers were when you got off the shop? >> well, you know, ashleigh, the

captain took very good care of us. i think all of the passengers were very relieved to get off the ship. and to be on dry land again. we had some tumultuous waves. we were into 25 to 30-foot seas. and, you know, we were -- we left boston at the time when this frankenstorm came along and thought, wow, are we leaving. but we left, and the captain said we were going to head for bermuda. and we thought, wow. anyway, off we went. and very quickly, we were into major seas. and we did head for bermuda. we ended up going on a northern track to bermuda. we were not able to get in there which was very distressing for us. >> we're seeing a picture of you and graham, my stepdad. >> oh. >> and i know you guys are quite -- your sea farers. you do a lot of this. a lot of people who are on board might not have been so experienced. so how is everybody in terms of

seasickness? because even in a boat that big, even in a ship that big, 35-foot seas can make people -- even hardy sea-farers sick. how were the passengers? >> well, i think a lot of them stayed in their rooms for major parts of it. everybody had to be extremely careful. i mean, doors were swinging on the ship, and -- but they do -- i do want to say, our captain really was very concerned about our safety, and did everything he could. it's just that when you're out there, you're stuck. and i think as you say, there were a lot of senior people on this ship. and they had to be extremely careful. >> yeah. >> i think a few people had little upsets, but primarily, he did what -- he did what he had to do and we were all the way on the outside of bermuda. >> glad to hear your voice. five days i've been tracking you. and quite worried about it. welcome home, mom. >> thank you, sweetie. we're glad to be here and it's

lovely. >> i'll talk to you after the show. love you. >> okay, dear. bye-bye. all right. so by now a lot of experts are talking about the explanations behind the wrath of sandy. and some explanations may or may not becoming clear. a monster started as a hurricane and combined with a winter storm. it pushed massive tides that flooded the east coast and punishing winds that obliterated what wasn't already. while trying to gary radni gras magnitude, the issue of climate change is raising its head and not in a subtle way. look at the cover of magazines, it's global warming, the headline reads. and also, two of new york's top politicians, the governor and the mayor, hitting the topics just in the last 24 hours. >> there has been a series of extreme weather incidents. but --

>> there have been very strange weather patterns, very severe storms where they normally have not occurred. >> that's not a political statement. that is a factual statement. >> that much is recorded. you can look at the film, okay? >> anyone who says this is not a dramatic change in weather patterns, i think, is denying reality. >> let's assume that we decide that we're not damaging our planet and later on find out that we were. it literally could be too late. >> i said to the president kiddingly the other day, we have a 100-year flood every two years now. >> what we have to do is learn from this. and protect our infrastructure. >> i'm hopeful that not only will we rebuild this city, and metropolitan area, but we use this as an opportunity to build it back smarter. >> this sign might just say it all. residents in brooklyn leaving it on a damaged car.

it asks, is climate change the culprit? and further on down, it suggests that we, quote, get used to it or change it. i want to bring in professor ben orloff, an environmentalist from columbia, university, written extensively about this subject. i also want to bring in meteorologist chad myers, who literally lives weather every single day. professor, let me begin with you, if i could. first off, try and answer that question for me. that that resident of brooklyn -- >> we're getting more extreme weather. we're going to continue to get more extreme weather. and there are many changes that make us more vulnerable. >> however, there are so many others who say it is not necessarily global warming. this would be a cycle, and it's a cycle we can't measure because we just don't have the length of records that it would require. is that something you can refute? >> well, i'm really glad you used the word measure. there are some questions about the strength of the hurricane, and there's active scientific research. what we have measured is sea

level. we have been measuring the water of the level here since 1893 so we know exactly what the ocean is doing here and it's getting higher, more quickly. and that's due to global warming. this is ice melting around the world that's going into the ocean and this is the ocean expanding just a little bit as it warms. >> so as you say that, i want to put up a graphic that might explain just the extent of the global ice cap and melt and the size of the loss. and we can pop that up. here are the specs. over the last three decades, we lost about 1.3 million square miles of arctic sea ice. that's just disappeared. and if you just measure that in terms of the size of the united states, the lower 48, the blue part is what's gone. 42% of the united states. that's the size of what's now missing in polar ice. chad, jump in here, if you would for me. that makes for higher tide everywhere. it makes for higher sea level everywhere. >> that's correct. >> and doesn't that just imperil

anyone globally living anywhere near any coast? >> sure. and it also changes the pattern of the jet stream. because that water is now open. and not ice. and it also -- it creates blocking patterns in the atlantic and also in the pacific. and that blocking pattern that was over green land with this storm could have possibly created the turn to the left that most storms don't do. they do it in october. that's a normal kind of pattern. they can turn left in october. but that block was responsible for the left turn rather than the storm being pushed out to sea. and the water temperature, i can show you where the water temperature looks like. this is the anomaly water temperature. so it's a little bit different. this isn't what the temperature of the water is, but it's 2 degrees celsius warmer right where the storm really blew up again as we got into new york harbor. 1 to 2 degrees celsius warmer may have made that storm 10% stronger than it could have or should have been. now, don't get me wrong. sandy would have occurred anyway. it started in the caribbean, which is going to be warm, and warm almost all year long. but it's just that little extra

push -- >> sure. >> we're just ramping up the storm's severity just by a little bit and made a big difference. >> let me ask the doctor, there are all sorts of things people are talking about doing right now. the mayor of new york city halls talked about the seawall and infrastructural changes. look, you can't fight the sea. that's the fact. you can do the best you can, but short of some of those infrastructure -- onland infrastructure plans, what can be done out at sea? anything that might mitigate this problem we're facing? >> out at sea, it's hard to mitigate but some things we can do on land that are easy. we can get the power stations in the cities away from the coast. so they won't flood. >> i was referring to artificial barrier islands. >> barrier islands. i think the barrier islands can be very hard -- you know, they're doing barrier islands in a few cities. london is doing them. and venice is doing them. the reason they're hard to do here in new york, if we stop --

it's going to go someplace else. you block it in long island sound, it's going flood connecticut. and we also don't want to send more water to new jersey. >> bottom line, should we expect the storm of the century now every year or two or five? >> what worries me is that the plain old storms of the decade -- the regular old storms are doing more damage, because the water is higher. it's reaching more tunnels, staying higher longer, because the seas are higher. >> so the flood-like mess we're seeing on the screen now is a thing of the future. >> yeah, and the floods we don't see, the tunnels that are flooded. >> doctor, thank you so much. good to see you. and chad myers, as always, i appreciate your insight and expertise in this department, too. you're invaluable in our coverage. appreciate it. according to a recent pew research center poll, 67% of americans do believe that there is some solid evidence of global warming. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose.

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about that election. you remember the election? five days from today, when america will decide whether president obama gets the second term he's asking for or if mitt romney takes back the white house for the gop. after three days devoted entirely to disaster relief, mr. obama is campaigning again in wisconsin, in nevada and colorado today, alone. governor romney is going to

spend his day campaigning in virginia. the first stop for the president is in green bay, moments from now. we're keeping a live eye on that event. we'll bring it to you, as well. brianna keilar is waiting for the president. it looks chilly in wisconsin. i've got to ask you, off the top, a very serious question about how this president is going to segue from what he has been doing the last three days, which has been in emergency mode, into a stump speech. >> reporter: you know, i think we may have gotten a preview of that, actually, ashleigh, because we did hear from charles woodson, a safety from the green bay packers, a popular person here. and he was making the case for the government providing services or assistance for people, and then he was saying that he was raised by a single mother, and that the government stepped in to bridge the gap in between jobs for her and the family, just as he said, the federal government is doing on the east coast. with the storm.

and then he pledged some money to the red cross for that. so i think we may be seeing some kind of segue in that regard, certainly from someone introducing president obama. i have to tell you, about a minute or so ago, air force one touched down here in green bay, a pretty dramatic entrance, the crowd was excited to see the plane come in. and i do know from a campaign source that president obama off the top of his remarks he will give momentarily will talk about the storm but also getting back to campaign business and making the case for his re-election. we're certainly going to be hearing some politics as we heard before the storm, as well, ashleigh. >> and, you know, when you just sort of glossed over that, made a donation to the red cross, we should say that that packers' defense you're talking about, charles woodson, gave a big donation, $100,000, that's great. a great example to set for the rest of the country. redcross.org if you're thinking. brianna, quickly, i want to ask about the recent polling that's come out in wisconsin, and while i ask you about the polling, i

also want to remind our viewers that wisconsin is the home state of congressman ryan, and that would be governor romney's running mate. so maybe defying conventional wisdom, wisconsin is leaning fairly heavily in president obama's favor. >> reporter: that's right. now, paul ryan has been seen as an asset, obviously, to governor romney and he has been making a whole lot of appearances. i'll tell you, the crowd behind me is getting excited, ashleigh, because air force one is taxing over towards us where president obama is going to be coming out shortly and making his remarks. yes, paul ryan has been an asset to governor romney. it's why some are saying the race here has been pretty tight, although there is a small lead, a consistent lead, for president obama. today we saw "wall street journ journal" nbc news poll, three points up the president is here in wisconsin. yesterday there was a poll in milwaukee, a marquette university poll that had the

president up by much more, eight points. you talk to the obama campaign, they'll point to that marquette poll and they'll say it's more accurate. it seems likie internal polls ae in between the two. the bottom line, while he has a lead that is significant, you have to pay attention to it, it's not quite comfortable. that's why you're seeing president obama here today. we saw joe biden here last week. but paul ryan was here yesterday. mitt romney will be here tomorrow. bill clinton last night and this morning. there is a lot of surrogate traffic and part of that is because early voting is under way right now and goes on through tomorrow. and both sides are really trying to energize people and get them out to the polls during this week. >> brianna, i'm looking behind you. just quickly peek over the back of your shoulder to your left, air force one just came right into a perfect view for us. thank you very much. but i want to ask you, this was a campaign stop in green bay that was really supposed to happen tuesday, which the president cancelled because of the storm and emergency work that he needed to do.

so what did they do? did they go on with the event as scheduled and then add this one, or have they just rejigged the schedule? >> reporter: they sort of adjusted it a little bit. i think it was an evening event was the idea on tuesday. but for instance, charles woodson, who, yes, did make that very generous $100,000 donation -- or announced it here to the red cross, he was going to be at the event tuesday, and he was at the event here today, obviously green bay folks love the packers. that was a big draw for them. so they kept a lot of the things as they were to be. the difference is that -- in addition, you can see, this is a pretty dramatic entrance that gets the crowd going here in green bay. but also the president just coming in and having a quick stop at the airport means he's able to get in and out of here very quickly before moving on. >> right, of course. >>. >> this is sort of the adjustment that was made. >> i always love covering those events in the airport hangars, but for the weather in the northern states. it was very exciting to watch the campaign planes come in so

closely. and then i also noticed over your shoulder they're bringing out the staircase. but i also remember, it takes a while before the president jumps down those stairs. i'll give you a break as we wait for the president to disembark from the plane and that's live in green bay, wisconsin so we'll go back and listen as the president takes the mic. and also we'll update you on mitt romney, because he's on the stump, as well in the battleground state of virginia. all day, in fact. last hour in roanoke, he hammered away on the economy and how in his words americans are in worse shape today than they were four years ago, he says because of president obama's policies. our jim acosta also working the campaign trail, and this is the nuts and bolts of the reaction. >> at an event in roanoke, virginia, mitt romney ended a political truce with president obama in the aftermath of hurricane sandy, while he avoided attacking the president during a series of stops across the state of florida, that was not the case here in virginia. romney went after what he often hears outside some of his events

from some of the president's supporters who sometimes chant "four more years," romney said it should be more like five more days. and then he went after an idea the president floated out in recent days when mr. obama talked about potentially naming a secretary of business in a second term. here's what romney had to say. >> we don't need the secretary of business to understand business. we need a president who understands business, and i do. and that's how i'll help this economy going. >> reporter: romney will spend the day in virginia where polls show the race is very tight with the president. tomorrow he heads off to wisconsin and iowa, and at an event that will kick off a multistate politics blitz that will carry into election day. jim acosta, cnn, roanoke, virginia. >> all right, thank you, jim. jim coming to us from virginia, where mitt romney will spend the whole day. was just in roanoke the last hour. looking ahead, we want to make sure you're aware. tune into cnn on election night. we've been wall to wall on the emergency situation because of

superstorm sandy but our team is breaking down results state by state with all of the expert analysis you've come to expect, our teams will continue to work round the clock and our special coverage will start at 6:00 p.m. this time. 6:00 p.m. eastern on november 6th. jack, you're a little boring.

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governor romney. and there is no sampling error in that, we should explain, as well, because it's a poll of polls. plenty of sampling errors in different polls that merge into that poll of polls. here's what we also know. five days left before the election. both camps have deployed the best ground troops they can possibly muster, all in the effort to get face time with potential voters and our don lemon has been very busy on this story. >> reporter: the front line on the ohio battleground, cold, soggy and gray. but neither snow or sleet nor bad directions -- are you lost now? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: -- shall keep these volunteers from their appointed route. why are you doing this? >> i do it to support governor romney. >> reporter: when college sophomore and first time voter sean henning isn't in class or working, he's driving. walking. this your next one? >> yes. >> reporter: knocking -- [ knocking ] >> and talking to voters. when you were going to vote, if

you were going to go in early or -- on election day? >> we're going on election day. >> reporter: is it worth it? it's cold, it's rainy. some people slam the door in your face, others don't. some people are receptive. is it worth it? >> in the long run hopefully it will be. if i see my man romney as president, yes. >> reporter: a president romney is the last thing she wants. she says she has a preexisting medical condition, so she put on her boots, put her jewelry business on hold last summer to volunteer full-time to make sure president obama and his health care plan stay put. >> are you voting for the president in the re-election? >> yes i do. >> reporter: both say in the critical final moments they need people like beth and sean. and other dedicated volunteers because of the barrage of negative ads and robocalls have run their course. so it's about personal contact. >> yes. person-to-person. not robo call, not mass mailing.

what's important to you, and what can i say about that subject. >> reporter: you don't get more personal than gail and matt calf free. >> we want to take you live to green bay where the president has deplaned from air force one and is in front of the mic. let's listen in. >> green bay, wisconsin! i want to thank all of you for giving such a warm welcome to a bears fan. and i especially want to thank one of the greatest defensive players in nfl history for being here today. sean woodson! and i want to thank charles, because i understand he made an announcement about a gift to the red cross to help support everybody over on the east coast, and that's the kind of guy he is. so we're grateful to him. thank you, charles. let's also give it up for your

next united states senator, tammy baldwin. she's going to be following leaders like herb cole and ross feingold in being fierce fighters for the people of wisconsin. now, for the past few days, all of us have been focused on one of the worst storms in our lifetimes. and we're awed and humbled by nature's did he say tuck trif power. we mourn the loss of so many people. our hearts go out to those who lost their loved ones. we pledge to help those whose lives have been turned upside down. and i was out in new jersey yesterday, and saw the devastation, and you really get a sense of, you know, how difficult this is going to be for a lot of people. but we've also been inspired these past few days.

because when disaster strikes, we've seen america at its best. all the petty difference that is consume us all seem to melt away. there are no democrats or republicans during a storm. they're just fellow americans. leaders of different parties working to fix what's broken. neighbors helping neighbors cope with tragedy. communities rallying to rebuild. a spirit that says in the end we're all in this together. so we rise or fall as one nation. as one people. while that spirit has guided this country along its improbable journey for more than two centuries, it's carried us through the trials of the last four years.

in 2008, we were in the middle of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the great depression. today our businesses have created over 5 million new jobs. the american auto industry is back on top. american manufacturing is growing at the fastest pace in 15 years. we're less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in 20 years. home values are on the rise. thanks to the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform, the war in iraq is over. the war in afghanistan is winding down. al qaeda has been decimated. osama bin laden is dead. so we've made real progress these past four years. but wisconsin, we know our work

is not done yet. as long as there's a single american who wants a job but can't find one, our work isn't done. as long as there are families who are working harder but falling behind, our work isn't done. as long as there's a child languishing in poverty, barred from opportunity anywhere in this country, our work is not yet done. our fight goes on, because we know this nation cannot succeed without a growing, thriving middle class, and strong, sturdy ladders into the middle class. our fight goes on because america has always done its best when everybody gets a fair shot. and everybody is doing their fair share. and everybody is playing by the same rules. that's what we believe. that's why you elected me in 2008, and that's why i'm running for a second term as president, because we have got more work to

do. >> audience: four more years! four more years! four more years! >> now -- we knew from the beginning that our work would take more than one year, or even one term. because let's face it, the middle class was getting hammered, long before the financial crisis hit. technology made us more productive but also made a lot of good jobs obsolete. global trade brought us cheaper products, but it also allowed companies to hire in low-wage countries. american workers saw their paychecks squeezed, even as corporate profits rose and ceos' salaries exploded and pensions and health care slowly started disappearing. and these fundamental changes in

the economy, the rise of technology and global competition, they're real. we can't wish these and global competition wlsh here's what i know, wisconsin, we can meet that because we're americans, and we have the world's best workers and the world's best aupt paren irs. we have the best scientists and the best researchers, the best colleges and ooufrtsz, and we've got the most innovative spirit. we have everything we need to thrive in this new economy. in this new century and there's not a country in the earth that wouldn't change places with the united states of america. but we have a choice to make. in five days we will choose our next president. and it's more than just a choice between two candidates or two parties. you'll be making a choice

between two fund mentally different visions of america. one where we return to the top-down policies that crashed our economy. don't boo, wisconsin. vote. or a future that's built on the strong and middle class. wisconsin, we know what the choice needs to be. we're here today because we believe that if this country invests in the skills and ideas of its people and good jobs and businesses will follow. we believe that america's free market has been the engine of america's progress driven by risk takers and innovators and dreamers, but we also understand that in this country people succeed when they've got a chance to get a good education and learn new skills, and, by the way, go so do the businesses that hire those people or the companies that those folks start. we believe that when we support research and the medical breakthrew oorz new technology, that entire new industries will

start here and stay here and hire here. we don't believe government should poke its nose into everything we do, but we do believe this country is stronger when there are rules to protect our kids from toxic dumping and mercury pollution. when there are rules to protect consumers and ordinary families from credit card companies that are engaging in deceptive practices, mortgage lenders that are unscrupulous. we grow faster when our tax code rewards hard work and companies that create jobs here in america. and we believe that quality affordable health care in a dignified retirement aren't just achievable goals, but they're a measure of our values as a nation. that's what we believe. for eight years we had a president who shared these beliefs. his name was bill clinton.

when he was first elected he asked the wealthiest americans to pay a little more so we could reduce the deficit and still make investments in things like education and training, science and research, and, guess what, plenty of folks who were running for congress at the time said it would hurt the economy, that it would kill jobs, and if that argument sounds familiar, one of those candidates back then happens to be running for president right now. and it turns out their math was just as bad back then as it is today. because by the end of bill clinton's second term, america had created 23 million new jobs, and incomes were up and property was down, and our deficit became the biggest surplus in our history. wisconsin, we know the ideas that work. we also know the ideas that don't work. in the eight years after bill clinton left office, his

policies were reversed. americans got tax cuts they didn't need. companies got tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas. oil companies and wall street were given free license to do what they pleased. folks, at the top got to play by a different set of rules than the rest of us. the result of this top-down economics was falling income, record deficit, the slowest job growth in half a century and an economic crisis that we've been cleaning up for the last four years. now, in the closing weeks of this campaign governor romney has been using all his talents as a salesman to dress up these very same policies that failed our country so badly, the very same policies we've been cleaning up after for the past four years, and he is offering them up as change. he is saying he is the candidate of change. well, let me tell you, wisconsin, we know what change

looks like. what the governor is offering sure ain't change. getting more power back to the biggest banks isn't change. leaving millions without health insurance isn't change. mother $5 trillion tax cut that favors the wealthy isn't change. turning medicare into a voucher is change, but we don't want that change. refusing to answer questions about the details of your policies isn't change. ruling out compromise by pledging to rubber stamp the tea party's agenda as president, that's definitely not change. in fact, that's exactly the attitude in washington that needs to go. here's the thing, wisconsin. after four years as president, you know me by now. you may not agree with every decision i've made. you may be frustrated at the pace of change, but you know

what i believe. you know where i stand. you know i'm willing to make tough decisions even when they're not politically convenient, and you know i'll fight for you and your families every single day as hard as i know how. you know that. i know what things look like because i have fought for it. you have too. after all we've been through together, we sure as heck can't give up now. change is a country where americans of every age have the skills and education that good jobs now require. government can't do this alone, but don't tell me that hiring more teachers won't help this economy grow or help young people compete. don't tell me that students who can't afford college can just borrow money from their parents. that wasn't an option for me.

i'll bet it wasn't an option for a whole lot of you. we shouldn't be ending college tax credits to pay for millionaire tax cuts. we should be making college more affordable for everyone who is willing to work for it. we should recruit 100,000 math and science teachers so that high-tech jobs aren't created in china. they're created right here in green bay, wisconsin. we should work with community colleges to claim another two million americans with skills that businesses are looking for right now. that's my plan for the future. that's what change is. that's the america we're fighting for in this election. change comes when we live up to our legacy of innovation and make america home to the next generation of manufacturing, scientific discovery, technological breakthroughs. i'm proud i bet on american workers and american ingenuity and the american auto industry.

today we're not just building cars again. we're building better cars. cars that by the middle of the next decade will go twice as far on a gallon of gas. today there are thousands of workers building longlasting batteries and wind turbines and solar panels all across the country. jobs that weren't there four years ago. and, sure, not all technologies we bet on will pan out. some of the businesses we encourage will fail, but i promise you this, there is a future for manufacturing here in america. there's a future for clean energy here in america. and i refuse to see that future in other countries. he don't want tax codes rewarding companies for creating jobs overseas. i want to reward companies that create jobs here in america. i don't want a tax code that subsidyizes oil company profits. i want to support the energy jobs of tomorrow and the new technology that is will cut our oil imports in half.

that's my plan for jobs and growth. that's the future of america that i see. change of finally turning a page on a decade of war to do some nationbuilding here at home. so long as i'm commander in chief, we will pursue our enemies with the strongest military the world has ever known. but it's time to use the savings for mending the wars in iraq and afghanistan and start paying down our debts here and rebuilding america. right now we can put people back to work fixing up roads and bridges. right now we can expand broadband into rural neighborhoods and make sure our schools are state-of-the-art. let's put americans back to work doing the work that needs to be done and let's especially focus on our veterans because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job or a roof over their heads or the care that they need when